During the Iowa Young Birders field trip today at Neal Smith Refuge a portion of our large group flushed a rail sized bird off the edge of the prairie trail. It flew low about forty paces straight south from the trail. The brownish bird showed a very prominent broad white trailing edge to the wings before it disappeared down into the tall grass. We did not attempt to reflush the bird. The size, behavior, habitat and white wing patches were perfect for a yellow rail as was the classic brief view.
The bird was essentially on the edge of the paved trail right next to the visitor center halfway between the visitor center flagpoles and the first wooden info kiosk along the prairie trail that leads off to the east. It was perhaps 25 yards from the visitor center at 10:30 am today 9/22. We will post a full report of our trip at www.iowayoungbirders.org in the next few days. Carl Bendorf Executive Director Iowa Young Birders --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
